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Mount Kosciuszko Mount Kosciuszko, located in the Snowy Mountains, in Kosciuszko National Park, is the highest mountain in Australia. It was named by the Polish explorer Count Paul Strzelecki in 1840 in honour of the Polish national hero General Tadeusz Kosciuszko. (The aboriginal name for the mountain is Targangil). It was formerly spelled "Mount Kosciusko", an anglicisation; but the version "Mount Kosciuszko" was officially adopted in 1997 by the NSW Board of Geographic Names. The spelling adopted by the Board of Geographic Names was the original Polish spelling, "Kościuszko", including an accent over the "s", but that recommendation has generally been ignored in Australia (since such a character is not a usual feature of Australian language). It should also be noted that the common Australian pronunciation of Kosciuszko, "koz-ee-os-koe", is quite different from the pronunciation in Polish, "kosh-CHOOSH-koe". The peak, like many of Australia's highest peaks, is not particularly prominent. There is a road to Charlotte Pass, from which it is a short seven km walk up a path to it: of any continent's highest mountain, it is by far the easiest to reach - anybody with a very modest level of fitness should be able to climb it. Until the 1960s (?) the road was open to motor vehicles and it was possible to drive close to the summit. The peak may also be approached from Thredbo, which is a slightly longer but not very difficult walk. Kosciuszko National Park is also the location of the closest downhill skiing ski slopes to Sydney, containing the Thredbo and Perisher Blue ski resorts. Mt Kosciuszko may have been ascended by Aboriginal people long before the first recorded ascent by Europeans. Higher peaks exist outside the Australian mainland but within territory administered or claimed by Australia: External link KosciuszkoKosciuszko
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